


Consultations of Oracle and Batman

by KyaFalcone



Series: Decisions Universe [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Barbara Gordon is Oracle, Bruce cares
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-11
Updated: 2014-10-08
Packaged: 2018-02-04 07:07:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1770139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyaFalcone/pseuds/KyaFalcone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Behind the scenes of Decision Switch, Barbara and Bruce carry on conversations that influence their group of vigilantes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. How Felicity Became Head Hunted

**Author's Note:**

> And here we find some of the things I really want to write but have either have been thought of too late or can't be put into Decisions with the set up I have. Thus this side work was born!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The conversation that started it all! Before Felicity was head hunted by Wayne Enterprises, someone had to mention her abilities.

"I'm done, Bruce. Done!" the fiery redhead known as Barbara Gordon screamed as she burst through Bruce Wayne’s office door.

"Ms. Gordon!" the older woman speaking with Bruce gasped.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Johnston. Let me speak with her quickly. It must be important for Susan to let her in while we're talking," the dark haired CEO placated.

Bruce led his friend out of his office and into the empty conference room.  He sat Barbara in one of the plush chairs and kneeled in front of her. Luckily he hadn't had time to button his jacket.

"Now, what are you done with?" he asked quietly.

"This job," Barbara almost screamed.  "I feel like a whipping boy down there, Bruce. It's not something Lucius can control either. I'm the only one working on the server now that you moved Lucius to department head. I need help!"

"No one in the department can be trained to help you?"

"I'd have to retrain them completely. I need someone new who knows code! And if they work close with me then they'll meet Tim and Steph. And I know how you feel about bringing in new people," she gasped as tears started running down her cheeks.  “I just can't do it any more, Bruce. I'm not _that_ awesome."

"Do you have anyone in mind?"

"What?"

"For the position. Do you have anyone in mind?"

"I have a few people I know could help me. Most - most have jobs. There is... nevermind."

"Who?" Bruce asked.

"It's a college student. She's good. Won a few of the awards for coding. But she's really smart. Like she would figure us out pretty quick."

"Send Susan all you have on her," Bruce ordered.  "Take my card and go have a few days to rest. Don't worry about things here. I'll handle it."


	2. How Barbara Worries

“You know,” Barbara called from her seat at the computer of the cave, “if you ever meet Felicity she’s going to be uncomfortable.”

“What do you recommend?” Bruce asked while running through his kata.

“She’ll ramble a lot; best to let her either run through it or tell her to catch her breath,” the redhead explained.  “Felicity is easily spooked about the idea of meeting you. Tim’s bounced the idea around but she gets that deer-headlight look.”

“She’s used to rejection,” he grunted.

“Probably. But it feels more than just the usual kids being stupid rejection.”

“Parents?”

“I don’t know much about them and I have a thing about background checks on friends. What did the standard pull up?” she asked while she spun the chair.

“I didn’t look. You’ll have to ask Fox.”

“Eh, I hate bringing him into things like this.”

The two were quiet for some time as they moved to work on their respective projects.  After a while Bruce noticed Barbara had stopped working.

“What’s wrong?” he asked as he jumped onto the platform the computer station was on.

“I just… if we spend time with Felicity and she figures us out, she’s going to see some major shit. She’s…”

“Innocent,” he answered for her.

“Yeah. I don’t want to ruin that.”

“If she lives in Gotham for any amount of time she will end up seeing something. It’s probably better that she spends time with people who can help her through it.”  Bruce watched as Barbara nodded before turning to halfheartedly work on her different projects.  “Hey, we’ll protect her.”

“We’ll try, you mean,” Barbara huffed.

“And if we fail then we’ll help her through anything and everything, just like with the others.”

“You sure about expanding our little family?”

“I wouldn’t have sent someone to get her if I wasn’t. You warned me about her intelligence. If it comes to it, we’ll tell her. Before then, we be careful.”

“Aye, aye, mon capitaine.”

 


	3. How They Feel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place in chapter 16 between the second and third sections.

"What's going on, Babs?" Bruce asked when she was close enough.

"Boy, do I have a lot to tell you, " she huffed.

She leaned into his shoulder for a moment both to gather her thoughts and to receive some comfort.  Bruce wrapped an arm around her shoulders, causing her to exhale loudly.  She didn't realize how much finding out about Felicity's money troubles had frayed her nerves until she felt the years start to form.  When she had control of her tears she pulled away from her friend.

"God, she's my best friend, Bruce. And I feel like a bitch," she admitted.

“Now, why do you feel like that? You tell her just about everything, from family to work. What could make you feel like a bitch?" he asked seriously.

"I hacked into her financials."

Bruce blinked before turning fully to the redhead in front of him.  “Why?"

"When Steph and I went to get her, there were some things that made us suspect she was having money troubles. When we got here, Steph distracted her with clothes and I looked up her bank statements," Barbara stopped when she felt her tears build up again.

"What did you find?" Bruce asked with a slight growl.

Barbara looked up at him to see his jaw clenched and his eyes had while looking behind her.  She knew that if she followed his line of sight she would find him watching the younger girls.  The woman who moonlighted as the Oracle took a deep breath to calm her raging emotions.

"She's paying way too much for her apartment," she started with a clinical edge to her voice.  "The amenities for her place are off the charts meaning her landlord is taking her money. If all that wasn't bad enough, she's sending money to her mom on the west coast. There was no power or water at her place so Steph and I are pretty worried. And I hacked my best friend, Bruce. And I hacked into her life. I swore never to do that to my friends.”

“You had reason. You’re worried about her. If you hadn’t, do you think she would have told one of us?” Bruce asked.

“No. She wouldn’t have.”

The dark haired man nodded in agreement.  “Now we can do something about it. We just wait for the right moment to help. Until then, we do what we can to help her out.”

“Okay,” Barbara sniffled.  “I just… I hate lying to her, Bruce. I feel like a bitch for lying to her all the time.”

Bruce wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close into his side.  "I'm sorry, Barbara."

"Why? You didn't make me hack those files. I could have had someone else do it. I could have asked her. I could have done a number of things and I didn't. I can't take it back."  Barbara paused before continuing with a slight glare.  "If you're talking about helping you, you better shut your face. I joined on my own. Don't you dare shut me out now. I hate lying to her, but I won't stop because of it."

Bruce nodded.  "I would never tell you to stop. I don't think we could do what we do without you. But don't think I'll be okay if you tell her either."

Barbara glared at her friend.  "I love you, Bruce, but you're an ass."

Bruce let out a loud chuckle at her words.


	4. How Barbara, Bruce, and Victor Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This takes place during chapter 18. Because the comms go both ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This came to me while sick and full of the good drugs. It'll probably be spacey and I know that these are supposed to be just for Bruce and Barbara, but Victor was established to be with Bruce so he's here too. And because Bruce has Victor, Barbara has Alfred.

Barbara turned around when she heard the door to the cave systems open.  She spotted elderly butler carrying down a tray.  He smiled and set the silver tray on the table next to her computers.  A sandwich and mug of tea were waiting for her.

"Thanks, Alfred. It's probably going to be a long night, huh," the redhead smiled wryly.

"I believe so, ma'am. Any news from the young ones about Miss Smoak?"

"Not yet. But I'm sure they'll say something soon," Barbara answered around a bite of the sandwich.

“ _Fuck. BG, I’ve got heat telling me someone got dragged into the alley network. I think there’s a bag in there. I’m going to check it out,_ ” Barbara heard through the comms.

The information was discomforting to say the least.  The young woman turned from the food to focus on the comms.  She noticed that the signals from Bruce and Victor had halted on a rooftop, probably wanting to find out what was going on.

" _Be there shortly,_ " came Stephanie's reply.  Less than a minute after another response, " _Need me to come down?_ "

After a few seconds of silence, Barbara took a chance to gather Intel.  "BG, what's going on?"

" _Looks like Felicity was grabbed on her way home. We're searching now,_ " the youngest of the group answered. _  
_

Turning her comm to send her words to only the Bat and Question, Barbara let her voice shake.

"Bats," Barbara choked out.  She knew there wasn't a lot the vigilantes could do when someone is taken into the alleys.  Even though she had a map of the city, the alleys were very rarely put into maps. _  
_

" _Question and I are on our way to them. It'll be a few minutes before we'll be able to get there,_ " the gravelly voice answered.  " _See if you can track her movements. See how long it's been since she was grabbed._ "

" _Need me to go back to the cave?_ " Question asked softly.

While the offer was kind, the redhead shook her head as she responded.  "Just get your ass to her. I want to know she's safe. If she's hurt I want to know how bad."  After a moments pause, she addressed her closest friend.  "Bats, if it comes down to it, whether you like it or not, I'm telling her. If they _touched_ her, I will tell her everything."  Tears blocked her view as she started searching through camera footage.

" _Oracle,_ " he started.

"No. She's my friend and if they do _that_ to her, I will tell her. I don't care what you say. She'll need to know. Especially if you want to be close to her. If they," Barbara choked before getting the right word, "if they  _rape_ her, we don't know how she'll react. She might push away you guys and I don't know about you, but I don't think Tim could handle that."

" _I know I wouldn't be able to handle loosing Smoaky,_ " Question answered, easing some of the tension between Barbara and Bruce.

" _If_ that  _does happen, then we will tell her together,_ " Bat responded.

Barbara knew it wasn't just the possibility of the secret being exposed that would cause Bruce to hope the outcome didn't end in something traumatic for their friend.  While the billionaire didn't want to expand the circle of knowledge, he also would abide by Barbara's wish.  They would protect their friend from the dangers of Gotham, as best they could.

" _We'll be moving her soon,_ " Bats growled.

"Of course, sir," Alfred responded before pulling out his phone.

Barbara smiled weakly.  Even if she was okay, they would still protect her.  Felicity Smoak didn't know it, but she had made friends with a very protective group.

"I think the apartment across the hall opened up," Barbara offered.

"I believe that will do nicely," Alfred smiled softly, placing a hand on the red haired woman's shoulder.


End file.
